I know some part of you might want to give up hope. But this is our moment. Our chance to turn things around. I know we've been divided. Torn apart. Broken -- for so damn long -- but now it's time to assemble.

Synopsis for 1st story

As he's slowly sinking into the bottom of the lake, Steve Rogers catches a glimpse of a light above the surface. Having regained his strength, he breaks free from ropes tying his hands and swims back to the surface.

In the middle of the desert in Arizona, Shaun Lucas helps Giant-Man bury his time capsule, which contains a message recorded by Sam Wilson meant to reach Manhattan and the A.F.S.S. in the past, so it can be broadcast now in the present. When Shaun wonders why don't they simply send a message further back in time warning about Captain America's allegiance, Raz explains that altering history in such a way would actually create a divergent timeline instead of alter their own.

Some time later, on a rooftop, Sam is getting ready to take off and fly to the midpoint between the dome and the shield, while Iron Man and Hawkeye break into Crossbones and Sin's super-prison to free their friends.

Miles above Upper New York Bay, Captain America finds himself dodging heavy fire from three Hydra jets trying to take him down. Even though Sam manages to get one of the planes to accidentally shoot another one down, a Hydra agent shoots Sam through the chest with a rifle, and the winged hero plummets into the water below, to the shock of Misty Knight, who was on comms with him.

In Manhattan, the spell being conjured by Doctor Strange on top of the Empire State Building appears to have no effect. Sam continues sinking into the bay. In orbit, the A.F.S.S. has been evacuated and loaded with explosive charges. Alpha Flight's personnel, the Ultimates, and the Guardians of the Galaxy observe from the Mark 1 Astro Carriers. At the Planetary Defense Shield Base Station in Michigan, Arnim Zola also braces for the impact. The space station crashes into the shield, triggering a massive explosion, but the shield holds, much to Captain Marvel's distress and anger. As Sam becomes invisible in the depths of the bay, a light glimmers. As Sam holds onto the Cosmic Cube fragment, Quasar walks up to Carol, revealing she has just woken up from her coma; meanwhile, Sam emerges from the water. Quasar flies to the shield and blasts it until it is breached and destroyed. Captain Marvel proceeds to fly to the coordinates where the Chitauri Eggs are cloistered away in Montana.

Inside Hydra's super-prison, as Iron Man and Hawkeye make their way through Hydra troops, Maria Hill slips past all the noise into the cell where Blackout is being kept brainwashed in the form of his Pleasant Hill-self, the mild-mannered Bob Hofstedder. While Captain Marvel reaches the Chitauri eggs and destroys them, terminating the threat from the Chitauri Wave, Hill reluctantly shoots Blackout in the head, causing the Darkforce dome to dissipate, bringing sunlight back to Manhattan.

With the Cosmic Cube shard in hand, Captain America meets up with the Underground at the Triskelion. They are soon joined by Captain Marvel and her allies, as well as some of the heroes that were inside the Darkfore dome. Namor arrives as the heroes being to think about their next course of action, revealing a bubble from where the Winter Soldier steps up, surprising the heroes, and informing them that he has a plan. The heroes then proceed to jump into action; however, the tide is still in Hydra's favor. Black Panther has been captured and Steve Rogers holds most of the fragments, even if it's not the entirety.

Walking away through the mysterious forest, Steve Rogers finds the glowing woman peeking out from the trees. He runs up to her and a memory of the two spending time together causes him to utter the name "Sharon." As they're about to touch, her spectre fades away, striking Steve with grief. Kobik then appears to tell Steve that she's gone, that they're all gone, and that she and Steve are all alone now, as Steve recognizes the young girl.